The rising crescendo of bickering and acrimony within Europe might seem to outsiders to be the inevitable result of the bitter endgame playing out between Greece and its creditors. In fact, European leaders are finally beginning to reveal the true nature of the ongoing debt dispute, and the answer is not pleasant: it is about power and democracy much more …
The Greek Debt Crisis and Crashing Markets by MICHAEL HUDSON
Back in January upon coming into office, Syriza probably could not have won a referendum on whether to pay or not to pay. It didn’t have a full parliamentary majority, and had to rely on a nationalist party for Tsipras to become prime minister. (That party balked at cutting back Greek military spending, which was 3% of GDP, and which …
So-called ‘free trade’ agreements should be strongly opposed – Bill Mitchell
My header this week is in solidarity for the Greek people. I hope they vote no and then realise that leaving the dysfunctional Eurozone will promise them growth and a return to some prosperity. They can become the banner nation for other crippled Eurozone nations – a guiding light out of the madness that the neo-liberal elites have created. While …
How Technology Is Destroying Jobs By David Rotman
Given his calm and reasoned academic demeanor, it is easy to miss just how provocative Erik Brynjolfsson’s contention really is. Brynjolfsson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and his collaborator and coauthor Andrew McAfee have been arguing for the last year and a half that impressive advances in computer technology—from improved industrial robotics to automated translation services—are …
Stupidity and Intelligence: Science, GMOs and Our Food – Vandana Shiva
“Science” is derived from the scire – “to know”. Each of us should know what we are eating, how it was produced, what impact it has on our health. “Agroecology, not the mechanistic and blind paradigm of industrial agriculture, is the truly scientific approach to food production.” The knowledge we need for growing food is knowledge of biodiversity and living seed, of …
America’s war on drugs is empowering Mexico’s drug cartels By Don Winslow
I’ve been writing about the war on drugs for 15 years. That’s a sad statement, if you think about it. Particularly given that 15 years is less than half the life of this particular war, which, at 44, has gone on longer than the Civil War, World War II, Vietnam and Afghanistan combined. The war has multiple fronts, but my particular beat …
Central Bank of Central Banks Warns That World is Unprepared to Fight Global Crash By Mac Slavo
According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the shadowy “central bank of central banks,” the world as it stands is incapable of combating another global financial crash – a crash that there is every reason to think is coming. That’s because the economy remains in the hands of the Federal Reserve and other central banks. The financial wizards in THIS …
The Middle East Is A Refugee Ticking Bomb By Luis Miranda
“Sixty-five percent of the refugees are under 25, are marginalized, desperate and frustrated by the lack of a just solution,” says Christofer Gunness, from UNRWA. Regional vulnerability has always existed here but in recent years has exploded with the crisis in Syria and Iraq, the expansion of the Islamic State and instability and crises in countries such as Yemen, Libya, …
Capture, Smear, Contaminate: The Politics Of GMOs By Colin Todhunter
When rich companies with politically-connected lobbyists and seats on public bodies bend policies for their own ends, we are in serious trouble. It is then that public institutions become hijacked and our choices, freedoms and rights are destroyed. Corporate interests have too often used their dubious ‘science’, lobbyists, political connections and presence within the heart of governments to subvert institutions …
Cuba’s warming relations with the US may undermine its agroecological city farms – Julia Wright & Emily Morris
Cuba is a global exemplar of organic, agroecological farming, taking place on broad swathes of land in and around its cities, write Julia Wright & Emily Morris. These farms cover 14% of the country’s agricultural land, employ 350,000 people, and produce half the country’s fruit and vegetables. But can they survive exposure to US agribusiness? For more than 20 years, …